Austin City Limits at 50
“Austin City Limits is the best thing to happen to music.” Willie Nelson
Austin City Limits, ACL, will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. As the longest running music show in television history, ACL has quite the list of accomplishments: it is the only television show to win the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and the Peabody Award in 2011. It was also recognized as one of the top ten music shows of all time according to Time Magazine in 2012. Austin City Limits has also been credited for helping Austin claim the title of the “The Live Music Capital of the World.” Many Texans grew up watching ACL on Saturday night, discovering new artists and wishing they could experience the vibrant music firsthand.
The ACL show was the brainchild of Austin PBS director Bill Arhos, producer Paul Bosner, and director Bruce Scafe when PBS corporate made a call for original programming from its member stations. Austin was a burgeoning scene of diverse, live music such as country, folk, blues, and psychedelia, and the trio decided to create a program which showcased Austin’s live music scene. Boser created the name of the show with respect to the Austin City Limits sign he saw during his weekly commute between Austin and Dallas. The pilot was taped in 1974 with outlaw country musician Willy Nelson during a pledge drive. After the pilot was picked up by multiple stations, PBS gave Austin PBS approval to keep the show. Originally designed to showcase the wide variety of Texas music ranging from traditional country like Willie Nelson, Blues-Rock like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Tejano legend Flaco Jimenez to musicians like Norah Jones who mix jazz. Blues, pop, soul, folk and country, the show’s reach expanded to a national audience and booked stars like Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton.
Taping for 36 years at the PBS Studio 6A in the Communications Building on the University of Texas at Austin campus, the capped audience of 300 was full of students, professors, and music lovers. In those days, the casually-dressed concert goers would just line up. After the “big donors” would enter the event, security would just let in as many seats as were available. The iconic backdrop of the show was a photo of the Austin skyline including the UT tower and the capitol building taken from South Congress that was so realistic that it led to theories that the show was taped outside. The skyline backdrop was sold when the PBS station finally moved out of the original station at UT Moody Communications building to Austin Community College. While the decision to move locations was necessary, the striking difference between the old Austin of the ACL Studio 6A, and the new ACL Live at Moody Theater epitomizes the change that has undergone the city of Austin itself.
Since moving to the new studios in 2011, the newly named ACL Live at The Moody Theater is a state-of-the-art, concert venue which can seat 2700 people. Located on Willie Nelson Blvd. in downtown Austin, the venue has a new Austin feel; it is high-tech and LEED certified. The show has evolved into a national series which now focuses on international stars touring throughout the nation including Billy Elish, Juanes, and Pearl Jam. The availability of the musical touring guests drives the production schedule. The schedule only allows 13 shows per season.
Everything at ACL Live is high tech including the ticket availability. About a week before the event ACL announces ticket availability and interested parties sign up for a lottery. The day of the event, the lucky pass holders arrive at the theater and security will let in as many seats are available. The ticket holders come to experience a show, so while some dress comfortably, others certainly dress to impress. The iconic backdrop still has the state capital building and UT tower, but it has received a few updates to accommodate the smaller stage, new skyline, and appear even more realistic.
In addition to the live performances, each show has a limited edition music poster created by a graphic artist and sold at the venue to commemorate the event. These posters have now evolved into a collectable art form of themselves.
While the Austin City Limits 50th anniversary is about to get underway, music lovers who would like a chance to attend a show should sign up on the ACL website to get notified when the ticket lottery goes live. If they are lucky, they may witness some of music industry's most iconic legends firsthand and maybe even buy a commemorative poster.
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